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Programmatic advertising is bigger than ever, with ad spend projected to surpass $700 billion by 2025. But with growth comes complexity, and today’s programmatic ecosystem is riddled with bid duplication, opaque supply paths, and non-premium inventory. More scale doesn’t always mean more value, and many advertisers are watching their ROI shrink due to inefficiencies in the open marketplace.
Let’s be real—buying ads programmatically isn’t the challenge anymore. Buying the right ads, in the right environment, at the right price – is. The open marketplace, once seen as a revolutionary breakthrough, has become a wild west of inflated costs and MFA (Made-for-Advertising) sites.
For DSPs, media buyers, and ad exchanges, the question is no longer “Should we buy programmatically?”—that’s a given. The real challenge is:
- How do you cut through redundant auctions and bid duplication?
- How do you avoid wasting spend on non-viewable or fraudulent impressions?
- How do you regain control over where your ads are actually running?
At BRAVE, we’ve seen countless DSPs and brand advertisers fall into the trap of over-indexing on scale at the expense of efficiency and performance. The industry is shifting, and those who fail to optimize their supply paths will continue paying higher CPMs for lower engagement.
In this article, we’ll explore why programmatic curation is the key to unlocking efficiency, transparency, and premium inventory, and how DSPs, ad exchanges, and media buyers can implement curation strategies to maximize ROI.
The days of spray-and-pray programmatic are over. It’s time to curate, optimize, and win. Let’s dive in:
Why Programmatic Curation is the Future of ROI-Driven Advertising
As mentioned in the intro, the global programmatic advertising market is projected to surpass $700 billion in ad spend by 2025, with over 80% of digital ads transacted programmatically. While this growth is driven by technological innovation and increased ad spending, inefficiencies in the supply chain continue to erode advertiser ROI.
Excessive intermediaries, bid duplication, and low-quality inventory drive up CPMs while lowering engagement rates.
For DSPs and ad exchanges, the challenge is clear: How can media buyers optimize supply paths, improve transparency, and maximize ROI?
The answer is programmatic curation—a strategy that filters out non-premium inventory, reduces waste, and enhances targeting accuracy through:
✔ Curated Private Marketplaces (PMPs): Direct, pre-filtered inventory access.
✔ Supply Path Optimization (SPO): Reducing redundant auctions and unnecessary fees.
✔ AI-driven contextual targeting & data matching: Enhancing privacy-first audience accuracy
The Rise of Programmatic Curation: Solving Supply-Side Complexity
What is Programmatic Curation?
Programmatic curation strategically aggregates premium ad inventory while eliminating low-quality placements, including:
✔ Non-viewable ad slots
✔ MFA (Made-for-Advertising) sites
✔ Fraudulent impressions
Instead of bidding in the open exchange, where redundant auctions inflate costs, curated marketplaces offer access to premium, pre-vetted inventory through direct publisher relationships or trusted SSPs, improving ad quality and brand safety.
Why Strategize Programmatic Curation in 2025?
Addressing MFA & Fraud
MFA impression volume rose 19% YoY in 2024, underscoring the need to filter out non-premium supply.
Third-Party Cookies Are Phasing Out
With cookies disappearing, DSPs must shift toward first-party data and AI-driven contextual targeting.
CTV & Retail Media Growth
As CTV and retail media networks expand, curated supply paths enable structured, brand-safe inventory access.
Demand for Transparency
Advertisers need clearer insights into supply chains to ensure ad dollars are spent on premium inventory, reaching relevant (and real) audiences while minimizing inefficiencies and hidden fees.
Stat: In 2024, the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) reported that 41% of total programmatic ad spend went to the open marketplace, while 59% was allocated to private marketplace (PMP) deals.
For Connected TV (CTV), only 34% of programmatic ad spend was transacted in the open marketplace, with the remaining 66% directed toward PMP deals.
The ROI Advantage: How Programmatic Curation Improves Performance & Efficiency
Programmatic curation offers a strategic approach to optimizing media buying, ensuring that ad dollars are spent on high-quality inventory with maximum transparency and efficiency. Here’s how curated supply paths drive better ROI:
1. Greater Transparency & Control
- Reduces Ad Fraud & MFA Exposure: Curated marketplaces pre-filter low-quality, non-viewable, and MFA (Made-for-Advertising) inventory, ensuring ads reach real users in brand-safe environments.
- Strengthens Buyer-Seller Relationships: By eliminating unnecessary resellers and intermediaries, programmatic curation restores direct access to premium publishers, improving trust and transparency in the supply chain.
2. Bid Efficiency & Cost Reduction
- Less Auction Duplication = Lower Costs: Supply Path Optimization (SPO) helps advertisers streamline bidding by prioritizing direct, high-quality supply paths, reducing inefficiencies, and optimizing CPMs.
- Optimized QPS: Reducing bid clutter improves DSP performance, speeds up decision-making, and lowers operational costs by prioritizing high-value bid opportunities.
3. First-Party Data & Privacy-Safe Targeting
- Higher Match Rates vs. Open Marketplace Buying: Curated Private Marketplaces (PMPs) enable more precise audience matching by activating first-party data in privacy-compliant ways. This approach improves targeting accuracy without relying on third-party cookies.
- AI-Powered Contextual Targeting: Unlike traditional contextual targeting, AI-driven models analyze content at a deeper level, identifying nuanced audience behaviors and intent signals. This allows DSPs to refine their targeting strategy beyond basic keyword matching, enhancing ad relevance, attention, and engagement.
Stat: AI-driven contextual targeting increases engagement rates by 30%, outperforming traditional audience segments and behavioral targeting.
CTV & Supply-Path Optimization: A Use Case for Curation
The Challenge
The CTV landscape is fragmented, making it difficult for DSPs to secure premium placements without overpaying for redundant auctions.
How Curation Solves This Challenge
Cross-Device Targeting: According to a 2024 report by LG Ad Solutions, 74% of CTV viewers use a second-screen device while watching live sports, often engaging in activities like social media discussions, researching products, or making online purchases.
Eliminating Low-Quality CTV Placements: CTV ads typically achieve higher completion rates than mobile and desktop video, with many CTV platforms reporting completion rates around 90%.
A curated marketplace filters out suboptimal inventory, ensuring higher-quality impressions and ROI gains.
Pro tip: “Leverage curated CTV deals to ensure ad placements in brand-safe environments while layering in mobile retargeting for high-intent conversions.”
How DSPs Can Implement Programmatic Curation Today
Assess Your Supply Paths
- Eliminate redundant auction pathways to reduce waste.
- Partner with SSPs or curated marketplace providers that facilitate optimized supply paths and direct access to premium inventory.
Integrate First-Party Data & Contextual Targeting
- Use curated PMPs for privacy-first, cookieless strategies.
- Leverage universal IDs and direct publisher partnerships for higher match rates.
Optimize for Performance-Based Models
- Deploy Dynamic Creative Optimization (DCO) for real-time ad personalization.
- Use AI-driven supply-side optimizations to reduce ad waste and improve engagement.
In Conclusion
Programmatic curation has become an essential strategy for DSPs and media buyers aiming to maximize ROI, improve transparency, and reduce inefficiencies. The limitations of the open marketplace—such as bid duplication, MFA exposure, and fraud—have driven the need for more controlled and efficient supply paths.
As third-party cookies phase out and CTV and retail media networks gain prominence, programmatic curation will be the key to a privacy-first, performance-driven future. DSPs that adopt this approach will future-proof their media strategies, optimize costs, and drive stronger business outcomes in an increasingly competitive market.
At BRAVE, we’ve seen countless DSPs and advertisers struggle with bid duplication, resold inventory, and opaque supply chains, ultimately losing both efficiency and ROI.
The programmatic ecosystem is complex, but those who embrace curation and supply path optimization (SPO) are consistently outperforming those stuck in the open marketplace model.
The reality? Buying everything available isn’t smart; buying what actually works is. If you’re still pouring budget into the open marketplace without filtering for high-quality, high-intent inventory, you’re not optimizing; you’re gambling.
It’s time to ditch the noise and focus on what drives true performance.